Elżbieta Sikora will be awarded during the 76th ceremony of the Grands Prix internationaux du disque, organized by the French Académie Charles Cros. The composer will receive the Prize of the President of the French Republic for her entire body of work.
The award ceremony will take place on March 21, 2024, at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Paris, under the patronage of Emmanuel Macron, the President of France. Since 1947, the French Académie Charles Cros has been awarding prestigious prizes for the best musical recordings, as well as the special Prize of the President of France for the entire body of work. In recent years, recipients of this award have included Kaija Saariaho and Bernard Cavanna. Académie Charles Cros also recognized the album „Concertos”, which summarizes Elżbieta Sikora’s achievements in this genre, by awarding it the Coup de Coeur prize.
Elżbieta Sikora’s catalogue currently includes approximately 110 works, ranging from electroacoustic to instrumental and vocal music. The composer continues to take on new commissions with the same energy. Her latest monographic album, which includes three concertos (for piano, organ, and violin), is a testament to her talent – writes Michèle Tosi in the justification for the Prize of the President of the French Republic.
Elżbieta Sikora (c) Bartosz Krupa
In 2023 and 2024, on the occasion of Elżbieta Sikora’s 80th birthday jubilee, numerous performances of the composer’s works are taking place worldwide. Nearly 30 concerts have been planned, including performances in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Vienna, Stockholm, Tallinn, Ljubljana, Oslo, Montreal, São Paulo, Brest and Marseille. Premieres of works such as „Tenebrae” at the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw, and a new Overture at the Zielona Góra Philharmonic, as well as jubilee concerts in Wrocław, Gdańsk, Kraków, and Wałbrzych, took place in Poland. These events are coordinated by SONORA Music, the agency representing Elżbieta Sikora.
Elżbieta Sikora studied electroacoustic music in Paris at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales under the direction of Pierre Schaeffer and François Bayle, and composition in Warsaw, under the guidance of Tadeusz Baird and Zbigniew Rudziński. She was also associated with IRCAM in Paris and CCRMA at Stanford University. She directed the Musica Electronica Nova festival in Wrocław. Her fourth opera, „Madame Curie,” staged at the Grand Auditorium de l’UNESCO in Paris in 2011, received excellent reviews from the press and audiences, and was presented in France, Poland and in China. Elżbieta Sikora has received numerous composition awards and honors. Her symphonic, electroacoustic, and vocal works are performed by renowned ensembles worldwide.
Elżbieta Sikora’s works have been recorded by Polish Radio, Radio France, WDR and SWR among others. Her latest monographic album „Concertos,” released in the Anaklasis blue series, besides the aforementioned Coup de Coeur award, also received the Choc Classica distinction from the French magazine Classica and was nominated for the Fryderyk Award 2024 in the category of „Album of the Year: Concert Music.” Outstanding performers participated in the album recordings: violinist Linus Roth, NOSPR conducted by José Maria Florêncio, organist Mari Fukumoto, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic conducted by Pascal Rophé, and pianist Adam Kośmieja accompanied by Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Bassem Akiki.
During the ceremony organized by the Académie Charles Cros, which will be held as a guest event at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Paris, additional awards will be presented: the Honorary Award for the Itinéraire ensemble for 50 years of artistic work and the Grand Prix du Disque de Musique Contemporaine for Enno Poppe for the album „Prozession.”
